Pubdate: Tue, 05 Aug 2014
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Trevor Howell
Page: A3

CITY STEPS UP FIGHT AGAINST LEGAL RESIDENTIAL GROW OPS

Mayor leads charge against unsafe homes

An appeal to Canada's health minister to hand over addresses of
federally approved residential medical marijuana grow ops has reached
"critical" status, says Calgary's mayor.

"Since 2012, (the city) has inspected 28 federally licensed
residential grow operations," Naheed Nenshi said in a recent letter to
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq obtained by the Herald. "In all cases
the owners' operation was closed due to identified safety risks and
violations."

Nenshi was reiterating the city's previous request in March for
federal health officials to provide the information to local
authorities ahead of Ottawa's plan to end its controversial Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations program - a move now stalled by a court
injunction.

"During the injunction, the city is proposing to continue to use this
list to monitor and conduct safety inspection of currently identified
operations as we had previously done to protect our community," said
Nenshi.

The MMAR regime, introduced in 2001, allowed patients to legally grow
a limited amount of marijuana in their homes. Since its introduction,
the number of people authorized to possess marijuana for medical
reasons steadily increased from fewer than 100 in 2001 to nearly
32,000 in 2014.

As well, the number of personal and designated production licences
climbed, reaching 23,422 by March 31, 2014, including 1,066 in Alberta.

 From the outset, the MMAR program was plagued with problems.

Proponents and users complained of the low quality of marijuana
initially provided by the government. Physicians were concerned about
health and legal implications. And police feared it would be abused by
criminals.

"The fact is, we do know that there are individuals who are hiding
behind their licences to traffic in marijuana," said Mike Tucker,
spokesman for the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team. "And this is
connected to organized crime right down to simple dial-a-dope
operations."

The Herald has uncovered one case in which Health Canada officials
approved medical marijuana licences for two people charged with
trafficking to grow and possess hundreds of pot plants and several
kilograms of dried marijuana.

Under the MMAR program, Health Canada did not require applicants to
undergo background checks - a glaring loophole the department hopes
the new system will address.

"If you have any hint of a criminal record at all, that seriously
impedes your chances of getting a (commercial) licence," said Sara
Lauer, spokeswoman for Health Canada. "That's definitely one of the
improvements and reasons why we changed the program."

In addition to the criminal element, municipalities and health
authorities were left to shut down residential grow ops that often
violated building and health codes.

"The concerns we have is that because of what is being grown in the
residence(s) the house was never really designed for the high humidity
levels," said Wayne Brown, co-ordinator for Calgary's safety response
team.

Last year, Health Canada announced it would end the MMAR on March 31
and would introduce a new program in which patients who had a doctor's
prescription would buy marijuana through a federally approved
commercial grower.

But Ottawa's plan to kill the old program was thwarted March 21 when a
federal court judge issued a temporary injunction until a
constitutional challenge against the new commercial program is heard.

Until that injunction is lifted, MMAR licences remain
valid.

In anticipation of the pending change, Calgary tweaked its land-use
bylaws to accommodate commercial grow ops and now effectively prohibit
residential grow ops in the city.

"If the injunction fails, then these are illegal operations," said
Wayne Brown, co-ordinator for Calgary's safety response team.

"We're hoping that they would shut the operation down and we would be
able to assist them and bring the house back to (occupancy)."

But the mayor's plea is unlikely to sway Health Canada, which
maintains releasing that information would be a violation of people's
privacy, a spokesman told the Herald.
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MAP posted-by: Matt